As a boy growing up in small-town New Jersey, I dreamed of Bleecker St. and the music scene I never got to experience way back then.

So when, 20 years later, I found a little old cheese shop I could purchase and move to the corner of Cornelia and Bleecker, I did, and never regretted the fact that I would make my living as a cheesemonger, rather than a musician.

But if you had told me that I would someday not only own a business, but a commercial property and a condominium in this same South Village neighborhood, I would have laughed and said, “From your mouth to God’s ears.” But that’s what happened.

I may not like having any restrictions on what I’m able to do with my property, nor would I seek to encumber others. Nevertheless, I would be very shortsighted indeed were I to claim that a good deal of my success came not only from hard work and good luck, but from the fact that our neighborhood is one of the world’s finest places to live and work, and attracts people from all over the world. And yet, it is not difficult to imagine it ruined through our collective failure to protect it now that we have the chance. Rob KaufeltOwner, Murray’s Cheese

Communication breakdown

To The Editor:
Re “Have hookah, will travel” (Mixed Use, May 8 -14):

Thank you for your Mixed Use mention of State Liquor Authority/New York City licensing enforcement. To clarify: The community board does not investigate or enforce; we work with enforcement agencies.

The S.L.A. cannot enforce at locations that do not have a license, and therefore cannot enforce after a license has been cancelled or revoked. The problem is communication breakdown between the S.L.A. and New York Police Department.

After a meeting following the incident described in Mixed Use, this communication problem seemed to be rectified in Community Board 3. However, since then, we have lost our cabaret units at the Ninth Precinct, so the future of this communication is in danger.

For instance, in the Seventh Precinct, we recently lost both the commanding officer and the special operations lieutenant. Is there an officer in charge of local S.L.A. matters? Has anyone updated contact information with the S.L.A.?

With the loss of our cabaret units, we need to be even more concerned about this problem, the burden on the community boards and the impact on the community.Susan Stetzer District manager, Community Board 3

In your article on the Lower East Side Ecology Center, you did not mention the very important fact that the L.E.S. Ecology Center recycles vegetable waste at its compost collection site at the Union Square Greenmarket every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They have been doing this for years. We always bring our compostable material here. It’s a good program but not publicized enough. June Abrams